how to increase mental endurance in pistol shooting

amarinder · Post by **amarinder** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 1:41 am

I run out of concentration after few shots. mind chatter starts and score decreases. Though i have been meditating but its not helping me much.

brent375hh · Post by **brent375hh** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:28 am

I set a goal for my training session. Pick a score that would be hard to achieve. Then convince yourself that every single shot needs full concentration to make your goal, because in fact it does.

The other way I train is to put up a target and keep shooting it until I shoot an eight. It might be 3 shots or 70. It takes concentration to have a long run without an eight.

David Levene · Post by **David Levene** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 9:38 am

I think that Brent has hinted at the answer.

You don't need to hold your concentration for 60 shots.

You just need to hold your concentration for 1 shot, but do that 60 times.

Aborting a shot when you lose concentration over a long period is difficult; mainly because you will abort so often. Aborting a shot at the first sign of lost concentration during a single shot is much easier (although still not easy).

The top shooters don't only know how to shoot good shots, they also know when not to shoot the shot.

DLS · Post by **DLS** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 10:38 am

If by meditation you are referring to the "Eastern" religions methods I doubt it will help you much in concentrating on a shot. I would suggest it will actually harm your ability.

The Eastern flavors of mediation train you to "empty" your mind, to reduce the cognitive / conscious level of brain activity and to disengage from the external world.

Shooting well requires the exact opposite of this ... it's totally dependent upon filling your mind with the task at hand (sight picture, hold etc.) to a very high level of engagement and requires very high levels of engagement with the external world (in this case the visual and tactile cues your brain is receiving as you progress through the shot).

Visualization, on the other hand, attempts to recreate all of the engagement within the mind, and is an example of how visualization differs from meditation. Visualization is, in my thinking, much preferred when seeking higher levels of performance.

If you need meditation to reduce anxiety, match nerves or such, you can gain the same effect with visualization, and not have the detrimental performance effects that meditation may bring about.

Just an idea.

Hemmers · Post by **Hemmers** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 11:01 am

As David says, this is one of the common elements to any of the deliberate-fire disciplines (whether FP, AP, AR, FR). You're firing a series of one-shot matches, and you want to develop a rhythm that reflects that. A sequence of actions that leads to you squeezing the trigger (or aborting), that has no interest whether you're shooting a 40, 60 or 120 shot match.
(Shot release - relax gun - check scope/screen* - adjust sights - reload - shot process)

Obviously with different length matches you have different stamina/hydration strategies, but you're not shooting a 20 shot string and having a break - you're shooting as many 1-shot strings as you can, and having a break when necessary - or not if it's all going swimmingly.

*This is the last point at which you care about the previous shot - if the shot was good then that's it. FORGET IT, throw it in the trash.
If it didn't go where expected, learn what you can ("gust edged it, wind has dropped, no longer an issue") , THEN forget it. Done, trashed.

At that point, you're into your personal cycle of checking your grip on the gun, bracing the arm, breathing, raising the gun, all of which is utterly independent of the last shot - you could have gone and had a snack or a powernap for ten minutes, it doesn't matter. When you come back, you're going to do the same thing as you did last time.

I think when people hear about developing a rhythm they often think it means the rate of fire - it doesn't. The gaps between shots don't matter. If the wind's good, get on with it, if it's bad, hold off!
The rhythm is all about the shot process, from loading to firing/aborting and everything in between.

Silvershooter · Post by **Silvershooter** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 11:33 am

The Eastern flavors of mediation train you to "empty" your mind, to reduce the cognitive / conscious level of brain activity and to disengage from the external world.

I have to jump in here. There is no such state as an empty mind or emptying the mind as the mind is the "place" where mental activity takes place. If someone thinks they have an empty mind they are merely thinking "my mind is empty." or some such thing.
On the other hand the purpose of meditation (specifically TM) is the state of consciousness by itself or content free awareness. Everyone should experience this as it is one's Self and is a preparation for any activity,(but not practised while in activity.)

DLS · Post by **DLS** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 11:58 am

Silvershooter wrote:
The Eastern flavors of mediation train you to "empty" your mind, to reduce the cognitive / conscious level of brain activity and to disengage from the external world.
I have to jump in here. There is no such state as an empty mind or emptying the mind as the mind is the "place" where mental activity takes place. If someone thinks they have an empty mind they are merely thinking "my mind is empty." or some such thing.
On the other hand the purpose of meditation (specifically TM) is the state of consciousness by itself or content free awareness. Everyone should experience this as it is one's Self and is a preparation for any activity,(but not practised while in activity.)

I agree with what you state, but I am using the language of TM and other Eastern methodologies when saying "empty" the mind. You actually can't do such a thing, and that is one of the reasons it fails in its attempt to improve focus based performance. You are attempting to do something the brain can't actually do ... so you create a cognitive dissonance that can only preclude improved performance.

I do have to ask though, if you really believe what you write, how can you even approach "content free awareness" which is in and of itself a contradiction and creates the same dilemma as an "empty mind"?

I also have to ask how one's Self is anything apart from the content that creates the self in the first place?

Are we going too far astray for a shooting forum?

To put it back to shooting, my opinion (for whatever it's worth) is to dump the meditation and learn proper visualization. They are very different and have very different outcomes when considering improving your shot process.

Cheers!

dronning · Post by **dronning** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 2:06 pm

The mind can focus only on one thing at a time!

Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight! Front sight!

Nothing else!

If you have drilled your shot process into your subconscious it will take over and you will be rewarded. If you try and "make" the shot there will be disappointment.

IMHO

Silvershooter · Post by **Silvershooter** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 5:15 pm

I do have to ask though, if you really believe what you write, how can you even approach "content free awareness" which is in and of itself a contradiction and creates the same dilemma as an "empty mind"?

Consciousness goes out through the 5 senses to experience the world. But consciousness exists by itself, independently of outer experience and mental activity.
There is an apparent contradiction but mind and consciousness are not the same thing.
If someone tries to empty the mind while they are performing some task or sport this will be distracting. But meditation practised correctly as a preparation will improve effortless focus in a sporting activity.

Pat McCoy · Post by **Pat McCoy** » Thu Jan 02, 2014 5:40 pm

*This is the last point at which you care about the previous shot - if the shot was good then that's it. FORGET IT, throw it in the trash.
If it didn't go where expected, learn what you can ("gust edged it, wind has dropped, no longer an issue") , THEN forget it. Done, trashed.

I'd say if the shot is not good, learn what you can from it, then for get it, BUT if the shot is good REWARD yourself for doing well. give yourself positive feedback (an atta-boy) then continue.

(What you permit, you promote; what you reward you encourage)

Misny · Post by **Misny** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 9:28 am

To a degree, we all struggle at one time or another with the ability to concentrate or focus. That is the mental side of the game. Over the years I have read many books, taken training programs and practiced certain techniques. I consider none of them, time wasted. Some folks seem more adept at the outset to concentrate. If you want to improve your concentration, it takes work, just like any aspect of precision shooting. Not all people relate to the same mental training. A couple of things you might want to look at are "Psyco- Cybernetics" by Maltz and "With Winning in Mind" by Basham. There are many books available and most of them relate to other sports, like tennis or golf, but are useful to the shooter. Of course if you have access and can afford it, a sports psychologist could probably take a shooter farther and faster than all the self-improvement material available.